Monday, September 06, 2010

So Manny Thoughts

1. Don and Jerry were doing some "hey, look, Manny showed effort there, haha" bullcrap over the weekend. So they have to point out when he "tries," when meanwhile we have guys on our team who never run out ground balls but get a pass because they don't have weird hair.

2. Don brought up the question of whether the Sox thought about picking up Manny last week when he was on waivers. Remy was quick to say No and Don agreed that the team, especially Tito, was "done" with Manny. Now flash back to when the team claimed Johnny Damon a few weeks ago. Larry Lucchino was on the pre-game saying how the they strictly do things to improve the ballclub, not based on emotions or anything else. So are Don and Remy trying to tell us that our team, with so much money and in need of offense, didn't even think about trying to acquire one of the great hitters when we went on waivers? And if that's true, are they proud of it?

3. I hope the realization set in to some of the people who booed Manny (WEEI employees and their families being a big chunk of those) that when we had Manny, we would, ya know, win the World Series and stuff. I mean, when 2010 ends, are these people gonna go to bed with a satisfied smile on their faces and say, Well at least we don't have to "put up with" that awesome hitter anymore....?

But really that doesn't matter in what I'm bringing up here--Do we try to do what it takes to win? Or do we "try to do what it takes to win but some guys are off limits no matter how awesome they are"?

In general, I don't get into that who Yank-ified "winning is more important than breathing" thing--there ARE guys I don't want on my team. BUT, the front office comes right out and tells us they always do what's best for the team--shouldn't that include at least looking into the possibility of trying to get Manny?

Lucchino is, of course, prone to shooting off his mouth, and despite what he said, I'd be pretty surprised if the primary reason the Sox claimed Damon wasn't just to block him from going to Tampa or NY.

Manny's still clearly a very productive hitter, but he's 38 and has had three stints on the DL this season. He was also due over $4mm for the season, and this team does have a budget...they clearly don't want to cross too far into luxury tax territory. And I wouldn't be shocked to learn that Tito was opposed to claiming him.

With that said, he'd actually be a perfect DH platoon partner with Papi for next season if they could get him for one year on a low base salary w/incentives, but I can't imagine that ever happening. Too bad. I thought it was interesting that Manny apologized and did a mea culpa last week for shooting his way out of Boston. I always figured that he was pretty much goaded into it by Boras, whose only incentive was to guarantee that Manny would be an unrestricted free agent for 2009.

Well, it's certainly plausible that Tito at least is done with Manny; that much was implied back in '08. Remy actually does spend a fair amount of time talking to veterans in the clubhouse, so maybe he heard that firsthand.

Or, on the other hand, maybe he and Orsillo were just throwing that line out thoughtlessly; that wouldn't surprise me either.